The Jeweler's Lathe Part 2: The Headstock

The headstock is a pretty important part, so I did...zero calculations. That's right, nada. I got pretty close to calculating some stuff regarding the motor selection, but I decided that the driveline could be a separate video. I machined 3 parts for this video, and it all seems to have fit together quite nicely. The CAD and drawings should be appearing on my Patreon in the next few days.
Instagram: hlaps1990
Patreon: www.patreon.com/hlaps1990
Music from Soundtrackuniverse.com

[@JShel14]

It's good to see someone else's lab/office is just as messy and laden with random projects as mine is XD

[@TabletopMachineShop]

I still havent finished unpacking but... honestly... it would look like that anyways :P

[@samuelcutter4188]

I’m loving the the micro CNC lathe series so far! Keep up the great work!!

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Thanks!

[@soychivaspues6375]

I enjoy your videos I like the way you handle your work.

[@TabletopMachineShop]

+Undertale Lover0907 thanks!

[@DCT_Aaron_Engineering]

Love that CNC lathe you're making. Can't wait till it's totally finished. The suspense is killing me lol. Cheers, Aaron.

[@TabletopMachineShop]

I'm excited too, unfortunately everything I have left to do is super boring... soldering, wiring, etc. Shouldn't be too much longer now though!

[@TheRjjrjjr]

This is a very enjoyable video! I appreciate the fact that you used no goofy, stupid music, thank you so much for that. You let the work speak for itself. I, for one, like to hear the tools cutting and the machinery operating. Once again, great video. I am a new subscriber.

[@TabletopMachineShop]

I tried music once and got some feedback:P. It's always hard guessing what people want to see/hear. I also like hearing the machines (I dislike when people skip or fast forward the machining) but I know some people think its boring. I'm glad to hear you like it though. I think I'm going to stick with this sort of format for the near future. Thanks for subscribing!

[@fenech97]

Nice video , very informative. Thanks for sharing

[@Pure105]

Just took a tour of your workplace last week. It was great! Keep up the good work.

[@TabletopMachineShop]

+Brian Howey Haha that’s awesome! I guess I wasn’t around for the tour:(. It happened to be pub night so I punched out a bit early...

[@Pure105]

Someone spilled the beans that you worked there after we got talking about machine design. I had no idea you worked in my area, and that makes me stoked!

[@3dkiwi920]

This is awesome man! Thank you so much for sharing, very therapeutic to watch and listen while animating :)

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Awesome, thanks! You do animating?

[@3dkiwi920]

Game animator turned auto mechanic turned machine enthusiast :p Building the typical extrusion+6061 plate+chinese electronics cnc mill to learn with. Doing most of the plans and motion with polygons because it's all I understand and Im' lazy! Turns out polygonal models work fine provided you model them snapped to a grid :) Your videos are a source of invaluable info!

[@TabletopMachineShop]

oh cool! i'm glad to hear you're finding them useful. Polygons are key - I used to get pretty far designing in PowerPoint before I was familiar with CAD haha. You should do videos on your build!

[@frijoli9579]

Very cool series!

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Thanks!

[@mannycalavera9181]

Looks great as usual

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Thanks Manny!

[@seimela]

thanks for update

[@TabletopMachineShop]

My pleasure!

[@Rolo-Tony]

This channel is content gold. what happened ):

[@qwertzbalken6076]

1:15 sure 😁 lol. Your KZbin Channel is one of my favorite Machining Channels. Hope you get more Subscribers soon!

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Hey thanks Erik, I appreciate that!

[@beachboardfan9544]

oooooooo shiny! Cant wait to see it make chips

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Shiny is key. Gotta keep it wrapped up to keep it shiny.

[@restarttom]

Love your videos! Keep up the good work!

[@kblow5800]

Part 1 your video uses roller and needle bearing , is your roller bearing normal or high precision bearing , why the need to use needle bearing or needle bearing can take heavier load

[@pgs8597]

Are you relying upon the clamping effort of the spindle housing cap to stop the spindle assembly from sliding, I didn't notice any steps in the cap or housing plates. Nice work, thanks Peter

[@TabletopMachineShop]

+PGS yep just the friction is the plan. Its a good solid fit, so I think itll be fine. Thanks for watching Peter!

[@VId_Kok]

Great video. I am a huge fan of locating pins and shoulder bolts, it would make the assembling a lot easier. I am wondering why didn't you use angular contact ball bearings for the spindle. They can handle a lot more load in axial direction so there is a lesser chance of you brinelling them with your preloading technique. Also be beware of anodizing if you have any tight fits.

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Thanks! I didn't use angular contact bearings just because of cost. You're right, they can handle a lot more axial load, but they're soooo expensive. The ABEC 3 deep groove bearings I got were like $10 each I think. I did give myself a little extra clearance for anodizing :P I've been bit in the arse by that before!

[@RobB_VK6ES]

Just discovered your channel. pretty impressed so far. Tip. Combining brass and aluminium is inviting electrolysis. Brushed stainless would be my choice.

[@TabletopMachineShop]

+Rob B hmm interesting i hadnt thought of that.. thanks for pointing that out!

[@mattinkel7342]

Looking good!.. so the spindle is just clamped in place ,no locators to stop rotation? Just a touch undersize to give it pressure when clamped?

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Thanks Matt! The bottom parts are very close but a hair over, and the top is a little more oversize. When I tighten the fasteners, the top bends a teeny bit at the very top and "closes" on the cartridge. A fit like this causes a massive amount of friction and prevents any rotation. It's not always easy to make a shaft clamp like this, but you can dial in the bore by chamfering the edges if the bore is too small, or facing the mating faces if the bore is too big.

[@SharkyMoto]

that looks really cool, you could also go really fancy on the control panel and using something like titanium, i recon it would look pretty dope combined with black anodized aluminium, or copper, also a nice contrast. brass certainly too but everyone is using brass for everything so why not do something different?

[@TabletopMachineShop]

I was even thinking of a polished stainless. I want to keep the colour themes consistent. Titanium is an awesome idea. I'll have to look into that more

[@teddytavernier7522]

Might've missed it, but how much interference is there between the OD of the spindle the the ID of the two halves of the headstock? Looks great, cant wait to see it done.

[@TabletopMachineShop]

There's actually about 0.002" of clearance on the IDs, but when it's all tightened the top actually deforms a very tiny amount to enhance the contact pattern... I may mention it in a video because it's hard to describe in words :P

[@youcefassou1592]

Well done Can tell us what software you using to design the parts please.

[@bertrandlabelle3869]

Super vids and great inspirations, I hope you dont mind that i will sort of imitate although you have great skills that i do not possess. Thanks

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Thanks Bertrand!

[@joshwarner5676]

It looks like you are planning to drive the spindle with a belt, but it doesn't look like you've included any way of tensioning said belt between the motor and the spindle. What's your plan for that? Always good to see a new video from you. Keep it up!

[@TabletopMachineShop]

I'm going to do a tensioner as part of the driveline video :P. I knew someone would notice haha. Thanks for watching!

[@joshwarner5676]

hlaps1990 haha nice. I'll be interested to see it.

[@Pro_Stanki]

Hello! front bearing will have some sort of protection from the chips? I would make a cover with felt or a disk-bumper. otherwise the bearing will die quickly.

[@TabletopMachineShop]

I'm probably going to put some kind of shield on the front that covers the bearings and maybe even some felt that wipes the spindle, but I think that will be something I add at the end :P

[@Pro_Stanki]

OK. I will follow the project. Let's see who will do better :)

[@2384SKIPPER]

You say you need to do budget calculations for the spindle motor of the lathe but you put Clearpath motors on a 3D Printer? Those are pretty overkill for a printer.

[@TabletopMachineShop]

My budget calculation was literally "Ah crap I just spent a bunch of money on Clearpaths for the printer." Overkill yes, but still vastly improved speed, accuracy and noise performance :)

[@marshalcraft]

I doubt the improvements.

[@marshalcraft]

Just a waist of money, but hey you have a pnc and your making other lower quality cnc stuff with the cnc. Why not make something more beneficial. One guy made camera housing for his own slow motion camera. Just saying a lot of engineering goes into a lathe and having a nice fly cutted surfaces and black anodized looks nice but it's not accomplishing anything that probably a cheap mini lathe wouldn't do better. Maybe make a wind generator or something that is beneficial and provides gain. I don't know I'm probably just miserable cause even if I did own a pcnc I wouldn't even have anywhere to put it. :(

[@TabletopMachineShop]

I should clarify; it's not my PCNC1100, it's my work's (they encourage personal projects after hours), so I'm miserable too. I think the two main factors that go into deciding what to make are if it's something I'm going to enjoy working on, and if there's a product already available that suits my needs perfectly. You're absolutely right, I could just buy a $600 chinese lathe and probably accomplish many of the same goals, but the lathes that are currently available are noisy, oily, throw chips everywhere, and still manage to be unreliable (been there, done that:P). My list of needs isn't really represented in the market right now, but I really really do need small, tidy machines that I can basically run in an apartment, and for all the bluster about desktop manufacturing, those machines (manual or CNC) just don't exist. In addition to needing something that the market doesn't offer, I love making things, and it's a hobby I'm happy to spend money on. The shiny fly-cut surfaces don't add any advantage, but I enjoy making them, and I enjoy how they look when they're anodized. I guess I see this more as entertainment than acquisition. I'm definitely going to address the "Clearpath on 3D printer" controversy as I've gotten lots of feedback on it :P

[@ianide2480]

I just finished making my own 3D printer, it's built like a brick shit-house and there is no flex anywhere. Used 25mm extruded (I used more than is truly needed), full linear rails (2 on every axis), and the bed is within .0005 flat so my machine doesn't need a "leveling routine", in fact I can lift the machine by the bed and it stays completely stiff)... Oh and all axis run off 2 steppers each, the machine never skips a step. Complete and utter overkill for 3D printing but I had a ton of fun designing then building it. Everyone always has "better" ways of doing something, and it's not always about a 100% optimal outcome. I just do what I want, but alas my full time job doesn't allow me the time to put videos together (well not unless I wanted to dedicate all my free time to do it, but I don't want to). Your projects look pretty cool my friend, keep on keeping on.

[@CalvinoBear]

when the chips from the face mill are so hot that you have to hide behind the DRO

[@TabletopMachineShop]

They always find a way around whatever is guarding you and down your shirt though

[@miguelsal3000]

Hey hlaps, loving the videos so far, especially the micro cnc lathe series. I was curious about a couple things, 1. Your feeds on the tormach looked slow, is there a reason? 2. The surface finish from using the face mill for boring looked a little wack, did you go back and clean it up afterward? Also +1 for a belt tensioner; I'm on the formula SAE team at Cal Poly and last year we didn't run an easily adjustable chain tensioner and getting everything right has been kicking us in the ass since then.

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Hi Miguel, 1) Our tormach is really old and sometimes you have to baby it:P I'm sure you also noticed the spindle sounds like a turbocharger! 2) I agree, it got gouged a bit, unfortunately it was also a perfect fit so I couldn't clean it up:P 3) Belt tensioner is a must:P Thanks for watching!

[@koplandavid]

have you give any thoughts about rigidity and dampening ?

[@TabletopMachineShop]

I had actually considered using epoxy granite for the headstock as a dampening feature, however for the work this machine will be doing it was a lot of work with questionable returns. In terms of rigidity, aluminum is by no means the best material for the job, but I think the amount of material present will do the trick. If rigidity and damping were a higher priority, I would have tried for a cast iron bed.

[@koplandavid]

hlaps1990 for smaller diameter actual is probably even better... Didn't even considered that.

[@joshua43214]

Aluminum is fine for this tiny little thing. I would be more worried about thermal instability than rigidity. It will grow quite a bit as it warms up. For the bed, you could use granite cut offs or buy cheap class B surface plates/straight edges. They can be epoxied and bolted together, and will give you better results than just about anything short of ground cast iron.

[@conradmeyer9991]

im just amazed that people can do this u must think about what u doing me now i make stuff but i guess the next thing to do although i am limeted by the matchines i use as in to make a saw turn i cut my finger thats of corse if i think and dont guess?

[@rocket3d340]

Really nice work you are doing! You put nice finish to the parts. that tells me that you are putting good effort and pride in you work. Do not listen to the "it could be cheaper and easier" Thats the ones that alwas takes shortcuts in their lifes. One have to understand there is a clear difference in hobby and buisiness.. What all about those overpolished hobby cars. Motorcycles. Aircraft ect.. Not to mention all the robots and other stuff people are doing as a hobby.. One can buy a used industrial robot for nothing. That outperfomes any hobby robot. but thats not the point of a hobby and intrest in making things. Anyway. Im intrested in your experinece with clearpath on the 3D printer. As im been thinking about the same for my next 3D printing "brew" What is needed to hook it up? Any special problems to solve? Keep the good work up!

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Hey thanks a lot! You really seem to get it :). It's always difficult to convince people that it's the act of making something that I really enjoy, not just the finished product. Also, like you say, people like to have nice things, and sometimes that means including parts that are "overkill". I'm sure a Lamborghini could get around just fine with a teeny little 4 cylinder engine, but that's not the point! I'm thinking of doing a sort of channel intro video that includes a lot of the ideas that you covered. Intro videos can be super lame though, so I'll have to take some time to plan it out:P. I'm going to do another 3d printer video soon that should cover Clearpath implementation, so stay tuned! Greg

[@dingus153]

Needs more cowbell

[@TabletopMachineShop]

I got a fever! and the only prescription... is more cowbell!

[@bildoon]

how did you get a tormach?

[@Blacktronics]

not enough fasteners on the control panel bruh

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Damn! I knew it. What if an adult male gorilla pulls on the panel? Next time I'll use hex bolts and a torque wrench :P

[@Blacktronics]

hlaps1990 also make sure to use like 50, and loctite all of em, vibrations and wha

[@TabletopMachineShop]

And aviation wire. Can't be too careful!

[@Blacktronics]

Oh definitely, and fill in the entire space behind the panel with epoxy so everything stays in place should the panel get ripped into a different dimension

[@xenonram]

Why didn't you make the spindle have a through hole?

[@TabletopMachineShop]

I may still, but at the time i didn't particularly feel i needed one

[@franklima]

What FRC team were you on?

[@TabletopMachineShop]

I actually didn't do FRC, I'm just always on the lookout for a good cheap motor :P

[@claeswikberg8958]

this is Clearly one of the most inovative videos so far on you tube, never before hav i seen the inside of someonce pocket! Kidding aside, it looks really nice, but wont you miss the through hole abillity? or are you gooing to bore out the spindle?

[@TabletopMachineShop]

Well my shop kind of looks like the inside of a pocket... No bore would be a pretty big problem on a traditional lathe, however I'm thinking that most of the work I do on here will be between centers anyways. We'll see!

[@nehabkeinyoutubesry]

Where and as what are you working? (what i mean is for example :im working as a policeman in the NYPD-New York Police department)

[@TabletopMachineShop]

I'm working as a half bat, half man in gotham city :). Just kidding. I work as a test engineer in Vancouver, Canada.

[@tobeproduced]

make a tiny 3 jaw chuck!!!

[@TabletopMachineShop]

hmm. maybe. challenge maybe accepted.

[@cnc-ua]

Why not steel?

[@TabletopMachineShop]

+cncua i wanted something light that i could take outside on nice days (not joking :p). The CNC lathe im working on has lots of steel and it weighs like 60 lbs lol

[@jonjohnson102]

You should pin this